12-27-02
VIENNA VS. CARTERVILLE
@ SESSER-VALIER HOLIDAY TOURNAMENT
BY JACK BULLOCK
SESSER - Both coaches talked to their respective teams before the game about getting out to a good start.

Carterville mentor Scott Burzynski wanted his club to jump out to an early lead while Vienna coach Jon Green wanted to make sure that his club matched the Lions early intensity.

Burzynski's club got the message while Green's club got it eight minutes too late.

Carterville (9-3) jumped out to an early 18-5 advantage and held off Vienna's furious rally to post a 65-63 quarterfinal win at Sesser-Valier Friday afternoon.

The win puts the Lions in the upper bracket semi-final against Black Diamond Conference rival Christopher, who was a 68-56 winner over Trico.

Carterville rode the hot early hand of Justin Barrington, who finished with a team-high 24 points.

His lay-up off the opening tip set the tone for the early part of the game and forced the Eagles to play catch-up for nearly the entire game.

Barrington added another basket in an 8-2 run while teammate Matt Rowald shook loose for a pair of early buckets.

The string continued after a Vienna timeout when Barrington drained his first of three 3-pointers on the night.

After a Chase Wiggs basket got Vienna a bit closer, Rowald and Barrington struck again with shots in the lane pushing the lead to 15-4.

Trey Thompson hit a 1-of-2 from the line for the Eagles.

However once again the hot Lions scored with Barrington again scoring from behind the arc, making it 18-5 and forced another Eagles timeout.

"We talked about them (the Lions) getting out of the gate quickly and I thought we were ready to go with them. But we started slow and they controlled the tempo." said Vienna coach Jon Green.

Vienna woke up with a 6-0 run to finish the first quarter.

Thompson scored on a power-move in the paint, Tommy Waters put in a rebound of his own miss and Brandon Bundren got rolling with a drive down the baseline after a mid court steal and they were within ten at 22-12.

Bundren scored on a 3-point play as he was fouled on the baseline to start the second period and his free throw cut things to 22-15.

But Carterville went on another big run in the next 3:25. Barrington score seven points in the streak and he got help from Dan Pearson and Ryan Hilliard as the lead reached 30-17.

Vienna matched that run with one of their own that cut the lead in half as they got another run going with Bundren firing away.

He scored on a runner in the paint on one trip and then scored later with another 3-point bomb and a pair of free throws.

Thompson added a short bank shot and also an up and under move in the paint which completed an 11-3 march by the Eagles to make it 33-28 Carterville.

Carterville struck back with five straight points and then Vienna's Brian Waters scored to finish the half with Carterville up 38-30.

"We got a big lead and that is what we intended to do, we wanted to jump on them early." said Coach Burzynski. "Justin hit some big shots early and got us going."

Carterville got a bucket by Rowald with a short hook shot in the lane.

Then Bundren struck again to start a huge third quarter for the Eagles as they got back in the game quickly.

Bundren's trifecta from the left side cut things to 40-33.

After Carterville got a basket by Rowald and one free throw by Barrington, Vienna took off on its best run of the night to take the lead.

Bryan Waters scored twice in this run.

He made a shot in the paint while being fouled by Rowald. His free throw was good to get them within 43-36.

After a Carterville miss, Thompson scored in close on a pass from Waters.

Then Bryan scored again as he galloped down the lane to cut the lead to 43-40 and forced a Lions timeout at 4:30.

However that timeout did little to slow down the Eagles onslaught.

Wiggs, who had been silent in the scoring column since early in the contest, scored four straight points to put his team on top for the first time in the contest.

He hit a pair of free throws and then rebounded a Vienna miss in the paint and his put-back put his team on top 44-43 at 3:14 to go in the Lions' nightmare third quarter.

Like good teams do, Carterville bounced right back with Brandon Burgrabe 3-point play.

His charity put the Lions briefly back on top. But Vienna flourished in the final 1:56.

A pair of Bundren baskets sandwiched around a 3-pointer by Carterville's Ben Drust made it 49-all.

But then after another basket by Hilliard, Bundren hit a pair of free-throws and the Eagles got a lay in by Uriah Cornelius off a nice pass from Bryan Waters and it was 53-51 Vienna heading into the final quarter.

Carterville made the first scoring surge of the fourth to take the lead back.

After Bundren and Rowald traded buckets, the Lions scored the next seven points.

Barrington hit a pair from the line to even things at 55.

Then Rowald received a pass in the lane from Barrington and his shot put the Lions back on top forcing a timeout by Vienna.

Carterville finish its run with Pearson putting his own miss and then Rowald hit the first of a two-shot trip to the foul line and the score was 60-55 with just under three minutes left.

But Bundren responded, showing Carterville and everyone else in attendance that he is a clutch player.

His left-handed lay in cut the lead to seven and then his third 3-pointer of the afternoon tied the game at 60.

"He (Bundren) is a lot better than what I thought he was going in." added Burzynski. "He really played well against us."

The final 1:07 was as good as it gets in high school basketball.

Vienna's Corey Huckleberry hit 1-of-2 from the line to make it 61-60 Eagles.

Pearson made a steal on the next Vienna possession and he then got open in the lane for a shot, that he missed.

However he stayed with it and put back up a shot and was fouled by Thompson at :43.2

His two free throws put Carterville back on top 62-61.

Bundren wanted the ball on the next trip down for the Eagles and Hilliard fouled him on a drive.

He calmly put his club back on top by making both tosses with :29.3 left.

Carterville rushed up the court to try and take back the lead.

Barrington got the ball and drove hard to the basket.

Bundren was waiting for him on the left baseline.

They collided as Barrington put up the shot. The call was a blocking foul on Bundren sending Barrington to the line.

The 5-10 senior did his job by making both free ones to give the Lions a 64-63 advantage with :15.0 left to go.

Then came the biggest defensive effort of the game for Carterville.

While Vienna was looking at winning the game with a basket, Carterville's Burgrabe grabbed the ball away from Bryan Waters, forcing the ball to the court and causing a pile up and subsequent jump ball call.

The possession arrow favored the Lions.

Now forced to foul, Waters put Hilliard on the line to shoot two shots with :03.2 remaining.

Hilliard missed the first shot and Vienna called a timeout.

The 5-11 Carterville junior then made the second one to make it 65-63. The inbound pass found its mark with Bundren grabbing it out of the air as he headed toward the half-court line. He then let fly a shot that had the perfect distance.

Unfortunately it was just wide to the left as the horn sounded.

"We'll take it." added Burzynski, whose team will make its first semi-final appearance since coming to this tournament four years ago. "Coach Green had his kids playing hard. I knew they were going to make some runs at us but we got the job done."

Bundren led all scorers with 33 points but he didn't have any other teammate score double figures.

Barrington was tops on the Lions club with 24 while Rowald and Pearson chipped in 15 and 10 points.

Vienna (7-3) will take on Trico in the fifth place bracket on Saturday.

CHRISTOPHER 68, TRICO 56
The Bearcats outscored the Pioneers 18-6 in overtime to join Carterville in the semi-finals.

James Trogolo led the 'Cats with 18 points while Joe Kretz pitched home 15 for the winners.

Matt Rodewald topped everyone with 22 points for Trico.

WALTONVILLE 74, GALATIA 66
The Spartans advanced in the consolation bracket with a win over the Bearcats.

Justin Williams poured home 29 points for Waltonville while teammate Derek Lamke dropped in 21.

Galatia got 29 markers from sophomore Derek Sloan.

SHAWNEE 78, COBDEN 68
The Redskins got 20 points from Brett Pinnon and 19 from Doug Taylor as they ousted Cobden from the tournament.

Trailing by a point heading into the final quarter, Shawnee outscored the Appleknockers 31-20 to pull away.

Cobden was led by Guy Draper's 20 points while Chris Duckworth added 18.